Note: This is part two in a series by Nick Gruzevskis about owning a Ford BF MK2 Falcon Futura Wagon. Part 1 is available here.
What could go wrong owning a 16-year-old Australian designed and manufactured vehicle? It’s now been close to six months since we picked up our 2007 Octane Metallic Ford BF MK2 Futura Wagon, affectionately known as ‘Lister of Smeg’, because it was too sensible for Naomi. Instead, she is thoroughly distracted dividing her time between her hoon and classic cars, leaving Lister to Jack and I.
Reviewing the odometer, we started out with 368,733 kilometres and as of time of writing, it now reads 377,002kms which is a total of 8,269 kms added. In this time, we’ve done two trips to Canberra, one to Port Fairy and used Lister our daily driver. Average LPG usage during this time has been 15.2L/100, which is so close to the published ADR82 combined average of 15.1L/100. During this time the price we’ve paid for LPG in Victoria has fluctuated between $0.79 and $0.99 per litre.
Lister came with both sets of keys and remotes, however the buttons on the circuit boards are known to wear. A visit to Ben at Bond Locksmiths in Blackburn sorted this problem out with a new flip key. While I was tucking into a Lasagna and a glass of Shiraz at the café around the corner, Ben successfully programmed a new flip key and cleaned the old remotes.
As an owner of several classics, I’ve always got thoughts in my head about what could potentially go wrong or maybe what has just gone wrong. I wouldn’t say I’ve got anxiety but provides a good dose of motivation to keep up vehicle maintenance.
Even faithful Lister isn’t immune from wanting attention. The first problem occurred the night before we were planning to leave for Canberra in March. Lister had other ideas and as I started him, I watched horrified as a cloud of white smoke exited from the engine bay on the driver’s side. This could only mean trouble, as the idle was now all over the place too. The timing couldn’t have been worse, and we fretted over the next move.
Ever the networker, Naomi immediately said I should ring Dudley, as he runs an AU Falcon Wagon, using a factory LPG setup. After a short phone call, the offending item was found – the PCV vent breather hose had blown off at both ends. An impressive feat according to Dudley, usually it’s just one end! Fortunately, it was a somewhat easy fix, although I had to remove the whole plastic air intake snake box, to reconnect it to the inlet manifold. Backfires are not all that uncommon on dedicated LPG vehicles, so you always need to mindful of checking plastic air intakes and PCV vent hoses.
On the same trip, but returning home to Melbourne, we stopped at Tallarook on the Hume Highway to fill up with LPG. Again, we found another LPG gotcha. Unbelievably, we could only get 22 cents worth of LPG into the Tank. Naomi felt rather silly going into pay, but the kind attendant was actually most apologetic. Most service stations have their LPG tank underground, so the temperature differential between their tank (cold) and the tank in Lister (hot) was too great to fill up, as we had been driving for two to three hours. In this case it was too late for a coffee, so I devoured a chocolate Drumstick and within 15min the tank was cool enough to be filled up. We wised up after this mishap and given the tank size of 116L provides close to 1000km highway range, we now ensure we have a full tank before departing for our destination.
In early May I noticed a musty smell but could also hear water sloshing around. As Lister lives outside, I didn’t think much of it, I just thought water was running off the roof. I should have paid more attention to the symptoms though, as I soon found that the driver’s footwell carpet was soaking wet with an inch of water underneath the foam! Have you ever tried to dry out footwell foam and carpet?? Definitely don’t underestimate this task! The foam was so wet, I had to cut it out (as it’s one piece underneath the carpet) and we spent days trying to dry everything with multiple heaters. Not making great progress, we were very grateful to Dudley for coming to the rescue again and drying the foam with the industrial heaters at his panel shop.
Attempts to find the root cause were frustrating, as I couldn’t find any leaks, apart from a blocked AC evaporator drain. Luckily, we have a hoist at home, but even then, the drain hole is up above the gearbox and difficult to reach. Clearing the drain was only the first part of the problem, as first I had to work out how to remove the interior. There’s a wealth of YouTube content of performing various DIY jobs on your Falcon, so after some quick viewing, I decided to dive head-first in. Within about two hours I had drivers’ seat, lower centre console all removed. I am amazed at the quality of the Ford Australia product, as all the trim went back together very easily and there’s been no rattles or squeaks and more importantly no water ingress since.
Over the past six months, money wise we’ve spent a total of $1034.22 on maintenance and a roadworthy certificate to get Victorian registration.
- Replaced front windscreen $285
- Replacement remote key $250
- Bluetooth adapter, (integrates into Ford ICC Aux Port) $100
- RWC $220
- Oil change, coolant flush, including replacing thermostat $179.44
- Labor $0, as I did all the jobs.
The issues we’ve encountered in the last six months have fortunately been minor and just part of the journey owning a 16-year-old vehicle. In this time Lister has proved his worth, being comfortable, reliable, cheap to maintain and run, whilst providing flexibility to carry large amounts of cargo.
Author: Nick Gruzevskis is a contributor to classicjalopy.com, and the custodian of a great collection of classic and modern cars. Click here to read about his fabulous 450SE and SLK230K. This is the second article about Lister the Ford BF MK2, the first one is available here.
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